Fallout: Zootopia
by Nitran
Summary: Five years after Bellwether's arrest, Zootopia is struck with fear of a nuclear war. After the bombs drop, Judy and Nick must survive the harsh wasteland left behind from the war after emerging from Vault 111. Contains frequent shooting, some language and some descriptions of bloody images.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A/N: I don't usually write Fanfiction. However, after seeing Zootopia I became depressingly bored and played some Fallout. That lead me to writing this. So without further ado, I present to you:

"Fallout: Zootopia"

It was on a brisk autumn day that the world ended. Five years after sixteen missing mammals had been found, the city of Zootopia (and the surrounding towns) were challenged by an outside nation for resources. Tensions arose, and both nations started to stockpile nuclear weapons in defense.

Throughout all of this, the ZPD continued to hunt criminals down. As tensions rose between the two countries, crime rose with the conflict. Spies from the outside were arrested, and terror caused citizens to remain uneasy.

Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde were not stupid officers, neither were they amateurs anymore. So how they had been outsmarted? No one could tell. All that was known: a terrorist cell inside of Zootopia had been located, and was harboring dangerous atomic secrets for the enemy. After an infiltration and a brief shootout, the two cops were captured.

"Well, this sucks." Wilde's comment was true, but also very obvious. Judy rolled her eyes, searching for a way out. The two were hung upside down by their feet, five feet above the ground. "So, your brilliant plan definitely payed off, Carrots," continued the sarcastic fox. Judy tried to kick him, but was stopped by her restraints. "Could you shut up and look for an escape route already?" scolded the rabbit. She wasn't usually this uptight, but she was having a _really_ bad day. "Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood." Judy rolled her eyes again. "Besides, why are you so desperate to escape? We wiped the computer, they don't have the files anymore. The only thing we need to do is wait for ZWAT team to show up and rescue us."

Judy realised he was right, but that didn't stop her from arguing. "There is no way I'm going to just let myself be _rescued_. We're supposed to be cops, not victims. And ZWAT has saved our hides plenty of times, we should save them the trouble today." Nick shrugged. "Whatever you say." Suddenly, he fell to the ground. Judy looked on in surprise. "What did you do?" Nick responded with "I've had my knife in my hand for a while, I was just waiting to see if you had a better idea." "Stupid fox." "The fall hurt, sure. But I thought it I was being clever. Hang on while I cut you down."

As the two sneaked down the hallway Judy heard someone coming. "Shh, I think it's a patrol!" They pressed against the wall just in time to see a wolf holding an AK-47 walk down the hallway adjacent to theirs. "Phew, that was close." They continued forward, when suddenly a gunshot rang out. Yelling followed, and dozens of mammals in black armor bursted into the scene. "Halt! This is ZWAT! Come out of hiding with your hands up!" shouted the first of the ZWAT agents. More gunshots. Nick and Judy ran for cover while the two opposing sides shot at each other. The officers held several weapons, including pistols, machine guns and laser rifles. Judy reached for a gun a few feet to her left, but helped as an odd shot hit the gun and sent it flying across the floor. She frowned. Nick was in a similar predicament, he too was without a weapon other than his knife.

After the shootout, the remaining spies surrendered. Newspapers told how to superstar duo of police mammals saved the city from spies of the "red menace" once again, with a little help from ZWAT. The headline read, "Atomic secrets rescued once again! Tech company Vault-Tec use repeating incidents as basis for anti-atomic bomb shelters!" The common room of ZPD headquarters was tense that afternoon. Clawhauser was the only mammal who seemed to be happy and was smiling as always. But even he seemed afraid behind his friendly mask. Of course, there was Nick as well, though he seemed more condescending than happy. "Vault-Tec again? Those guys have been trying to get their hands on a government budget for years. What do they want to do, anyways?" Judy picked up the newspaper, cleared her throat, and read: "Turn to page 9c for more information." She flipped a couple pages. "Here we are! Vault-Tec, the company responsible for the bestselling _Mammal's Guide to Surviving the Wasteland_ and weapons such as laser rifles and power armor, now announce they have finished building their "vaults", underground bomb shelters designed to shield the occupants from nuclear weapons. The company was nearly given the green light by the former Mayor Bellwether, but the project was cancelled after her arrest five years ago. Bellwether claimed to be funding the project out of good will, but the government cut their budget. However, given the recent spike in enemy spy activity the government of Zootopia has considered funding Vault-Tec again, this time doubling the amount. Now, they have finished building their last vault, and are ready to shelter every member of Zootopia. That's all there is."

Judy looked up. "So all they want to do is protect people. Why is everyone so against them?" McHorn looked up. "You didn't hear about the Vault-Tec incident? They were discovered to be using _mammals_ as test subjects for weapons. They claimed it was unknown to the company, but they were cut off from most of their funds." Nick smirked. "They're all nutjobs. There is no way that an atomic bomb is fallin' on this city." Clauhauser switched on the common room's TV and turned it to the news. He was a huge conspiracy theorist, and was convinced against Nick's opinion and watched ZNN faithfully for news about the "red attacks". The fox rolled his eyes at the sight of the fat cheetah.

"Well, that isn't a reason to fight their cause, you can't be too careful," retorted the bunny. "I just hope they don't cut any of our funding." McHorn barked a laugh. "They probably will, where else will the money come from?" Suddenly, Clawhauser nervously said "Y-you may want to look at this…" With a sarcastic smirk on his face, Nick turned to look at the TV. Disbelief struck his face, which immediately turned to fear. "Well, shi-" Judy gave him a look that screamed "watch your language," but then jumped in fear herself. The TV's headlines read, "Enemy bombers spotted flying towards Zootopia," and the announcer said distraughtly, "We-We have confirmed reports of atomic detonations in… in Carrottown and several other boroughs… oh god..."

"We need to leave. Now." Nick was unusually serious. Suddenly, Bogo bursted into the room. "Everyone to the vault. NOW!" The hulking chief pushed everyone through the doorway.

Five minutes later, the ZDP had a perimeter around the vault. After the last civilian was verified and entered through the chain-link gate, the Police were allowed in. As this vault was meant for "small mammals," police such as Judy and Nick were permitted. They stood on the gear-shaped elevator. Nick pointed at something in the sky with horror. "Carrots- look!" An unfamiliar aircraft flew over the city, and something seemed to fall from it. The vault's elevator started to lower. Judy cowered behind Nick, who looked for something to hide behind himself. As the object hit the ground, a large flash of light blasted through the sky. A huge mushroom rose to the sky. As the doors of the vault closed, the city's vegetation was burnt to ash as the bomb's shockwave tore through the city. Anything above ground perished in the bombing. The vault-dwellers were safe from the bomb, but little did they know, they faced a different threat.

Inside of the vault, there were sounds of crying and confusion. The sounds seemed small to Judy. She looked around in panic, and felt the effects of hyperventilation kicking in. The room seemed blurry. She thought she heard someone calling her name gently- "CARROTS! WAKE UP!" She sat up, hitting Nick straight in the mouth with her skull. "OW!" "Sorry!" she apologized loudly. Nick rolled his eyes yet again. "Come on, we're moving along." A ram in a lab coat pointed things out as they walked through the vault. "As you see, here we are safe. I can't say anything for the above world, but our next few generations will certainly be safe down here." He pointed at an old-fashioned computer in the corner. "There you can check things such as date, vault temperature, and other information. You will all be issued Vault Suits, which are mandatory for hygenic purposes." Several other small mammals handed out vault suits to the dwellers. "Meet us at this hallway once you are done changing for cleaning in our hygiene pods." The animals scuttled off the bathrooms to change. Nick slipped the jumpsuit on, and looked down in distaste. The back of the suit read "111" in gold, the number of the vault. The suit was gold and blue, the colors of Vault-Tec. He couldn't believe this was happening- minutes after he cursed this company he owed them his life.

After around ten minutes all of the dwellers, now in their blue jumpsuits, were gathered back in the hallway. The ram stepped forward again. "Here we will make certain all of you are prepared for life in the vault by cleaning you in these hygiene pods. You may feel a brief chill, but the process will be completely painless." The ram seemed oddly nervous, but to his credit so did everyone else. The hallway they were standing in was lined with identical pods on either side, and the hallway extended forward hundreds of feet into the distance. "We will proceed after you have been cleansed. Thank you for your patience and calm attitude.

Judy stepped into one of the huge pods. She was afraid and already missed the surface, but looked forward to seeing the rest of the vault. Plus, the vault was meant to house hundreds of mammals. The vault must be huge! The hallway from the front door was long already, she looked forward to seeing the scale of the rest of the vault. It was oddly futuristic. One of the Vault-Tec employees stepped forward and closed the door to her pod. She could faintly hear the ram shout "Thank you for your cooperation-and welcome to Vault 111." Then, her breath was sucked from her as she was hit with a sudden rush of cold. The pod's window fogged up, and the world vanished into a white void of nothingness.

The world ended on a brisk autumn day in Zootopia. The land was scarred with Nuclear war. Two hundred years passed, and settlements emerged, but Vault 111 was undiscovered, nor were its sleeping occupants awakened. But their adventures were not finished-rather, they were barely beginning.

A/N: I know this may seem a little short, but this was basically meant to set up the story. This was mainly inspired by the beginning of _Fallout 4_ , but I plan for the plan to be mostly original from now on. Please review, I need tips to improving the story. Also, over the next few chapters I would advise listening to some of the songs from _Fallout_ 's radio stations, mostly to set the mood and to help with story immersion (Not a necessity, but hey-it's kind of fun!) Also, don't expect much shipping in this series, if at all. I'm not really into romance stories, and I can barely write them. Sorry for the rant, but I needed to get a few ideas out there :P

~Nitran


	2. Chapter 2: Atom Bomb Baby

**Chapter 2: Atom Bomb Baby**

A/N: Chapter 2! Alright, I'll start this note off with some responses to reviews:

Drakus the Dark Knight: Don't worry, I plan to continue the story :3

Blu07: I'm glad you see potential! I'll do my best to continue to meet and hopefully exceed your expectations!

Some Guy: Thank you for the advice, I tried to follow it in this chapter. :)

I've also done some stats (for fun) for Judy & Nick:

Judy:

Strength: 2

Perception: 7

Endurance: 6

Charisma: 3

Intelligence: 4

Agility: 4

Luck: 2

Nick:

Strength: 3

Perception: 2

Endurance: 3

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 4

Agility: 6

Luck: 5

As always, please leave a review after reading, they really help boost my morale as well as helping to improve the story! As someone pointed out on Reddit, Vault-Tec didn't invent power armor or laser rifles, this was my own retconning to condense a bit of the chapter. If you see further inaccuracies though, then feel free to point them out! Also, there's a poll having to do with this story on my page, so after reading please go ahead and vote in that. Finally, to set the mood I'd advise listening to Fallout's radio soundtracks, it's kind of fun! Rant over, enjoy the story.

War. War never changes. It can evolve, but the essence remains the same. The civilians of Zootopia felt this on that day, over two centuries ago. The dropping of an atomic bomb devastated the landscape, leaving behind a harsh world full of mysterious creatures and several factions controlling the wastes.

Vault 111 had been built two hundred years ago, and as such it was experiencing problems. Half of the "hygiene chambers" which held the vault's occupants hostage over the past decades were starting to break down. In fact, most of them were broken down, and their prisoners dead. The stay at 111 definitely wasn't living up to it's promise of 'a life of luxury… underground.' In fact, the life underground was the complete opposite for the dwellers. The radiation shielding on the walls of the vault had been breached, and the radiation was seeping into the vault. Several foul creatures from the outside world had seeped in with the gamma rays as well.

Judy had been asleep for a very long time. In fact, that was an understatement-she had been passing some z's for the last two centuries along with the rest of the vault. As one of the last few survivors from the faulty pods, she had no cause to awaken, until one faithful day. The reawakening cycle was a reverse of the beginning of Judy's hibernation. Her eyes slowly opened, then turned to the size of dinner plates as she was hit by a wave of cold. She felt a wave of nausea, and while she was breathing she felt like she wasn't getting any air. Her shallow breaths left her slightly delirious. The door of the pod snapped open, and the hydraulics quickly opened the lid. The bunny tumbled out, collapsing on the floor. She felt like she was about ready to puke.

"Hey, hey… Carrots… Deep breaths…" said a familiar voice. Judy forced herself to look up, and say Nick standing above her. He had his paws on his knees, showing that he too felt strained by simply standing. She collapsed again.

"Nick… How long were we…" Judy began.

"About two hundred years."

WHAT?!" Judy shouted, and immediately regretted her decision. A shock tore through her body, and with a yelp she collapsed back onto the floor. _Two hundred years?_ She thought. The thought seemed absurd. "How do you know?"

Nick looked at her and said, "Remember how they pointed out that computer with the date on it in the entrance hall? I hacked it without too much difficulty, and went through the files. The date was 200 years from when we entered. And speaking of the terminal, I also read that the radiation shielding is at fourteen percent, so… We kinda need to get the hell out of here."

The two shaky mammals walked through the hallway. The lights flickered on and off, and as such the hallway was very dim. Judy had to rely on her outstanding sense of hearing half the time to navigate the hallway. Nick didn't have this difficulty, as he had amazing night vision. _Unfair_ , thought Judy. Nick wasn't ignorant of his advantage either, his face was full of smugness. Suddenly, Nick yelped.

"What happened?" Judy shouted in surprise.

"That little bastard bit me!" shouted the fox in response. He seemed to be pointing at something near the floor. Judy squinted in the direction he was pointing, and shrieked in terror. She was looking at a huge roach!

"That thing's half my size!" yelled the bunny. The two took off down the hallway, the giant bug chasing them. The roach was nearly biting them in the heels. Nick saw something on the floor and grabbed it. He recognized it as a ten millimeter pistol, standard issue. He fired at the roach, which splattered against the floor. Suddenly the fox fell over, groaning. Judy grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What's wrong?!" Judy asked him. Nick grunted and pointed at his leg. Judy looked at his injured limb, and saw that the bite on it from the roach was turning slightly green. She looked back up.

"That's probably getting infected…" she said. She looked around, and saw a medical box on the wall. Judy walked over to it and popped open the rusting lid. She grabbed a random syringe and walked back to Nick, who was eyeing her with concern.

"Wait a second, let's not be hasty…" he stuttered, then yelped as she stabbed him in the arm with the shot. "Jesus!"

The wound began to heal almost immediately. The green disappeared, and the wound closed up and left a scar. Judy and Nick were both awestruck. Judy gazed down at the used medicine. "Stimpak" she read. "Interesting."

The two slowly walked down the walkway, Nick holding his gun at ready. Judy kept on the lookout for medical boxes, and collected stimpaks whenever she saw one. While walking down the hallway Nick had to slaughter radroach after radroach. The giant bugs were definitely appaling. While he wouldn't admit it, Nick was just as terrified by the bugs as Judy. There was something unnerving when a creature he used to eat was how almost as big as his partner. He looked around, trying to make certain the nasty bugs wouldn't bite either of them. They both had decided to avoid infections at any cost.

When they arrived at the Vault's door, Judy blew dust off of the console's screen. She pressed a button labeled "open", but was greeted with a message reading "RobCo Pip-Boy (3000 or higher model) input needed. Please call Vault-Tec for assistance." She slammed her forehead against the keyboard in annoyance. Nick tapped her shoulder.

"Hey carrots, one of the Vault-Tec employees around here are bound to have a Pip-Boy on them."

"What are you talking about? They're all dead and rotten."

"Yes, but machinery doesn't decay." Judy looked up, she new he was right. They looked around the room, but there weren't any remains.

"We'll have to go back into the vault and look, then." she said. Nick looked around, then nodded. As much as he hated it, Judy was right. _Godammit,_ Nick thought. He really hated the subterranean passages, but it was necessary to find the Pip-Boy if he was going to get out of the Vault. He grumbled as they reentered the dark labyrinth.

The partners looked around the rooms, and Judy jumped at every small noise. The dark hallways were made eerie by the crackling sounds of the power generator and the flickering lights in the ceiling. The empty vault was made even eerier by the skeletons of mammals lying around. They inspected every heap of bones, but found no Pip-Boy. Judy continued to collect spare Stimpaks. One time they came across a path that travelled through the power generator, and were almost electrocuted several times. Judy was about to lose hope when all of a sudden her foot hit something heavy.

"OW" she yelped in pain. She looked down, and saw that her foot had hit a bulky device that was shaped like a bracelet. Her hopes soared as she picked it up, rubbed off some grime, and saw "Pip-Boy 3000 mk. 2" inscribed above the large device's screen. She slipped the watch-like bulk on her wrist, and the screen began glowing a harsh green. Computer code ran down the screen, then text reading "© RobCo, Pip-Boy 3000 Mk. 2 (Patent Pending)". The screen went dark for a second, then flickered back to life displaying a menu of options such as data, stats, inventory and map.

After fiddling with the various buttons and knobs for a little bit, Judy and Nick made their way out of the dark room. The sight that greeted them was horrifying-an army of Radroaches sat waiting for them, and immediately charged. Without hesitation, the fox and the bunny ran for it down the hallway. After a few minutes of being chased, the two ducked into a nearby room with a broken screen over it. Inside of the room, the two saw a large assortment of weapons. Nick picked up more ten millimeter ammo, while Judy picked up a large laser rifle. While the weapon was a bit large for her, she liked how it sat in her arms. She grabbed some spare ammo and put her training to good use-she cleaned out the gun and loaded it with an energy cell.

Nick, on the other hand, picked up a large shotgun in the corner. The metal barrel was in good condition, though the rest of it was falling apart. He ignored the rotting wood handle, and packed his suit's pockets full of shells. He also loaded his weapon. The two sneaked out of the room, and jumped in surprise when the radroaches rounded the corner at the edge of the hallway. Nick pulled the trigger, and nothing happened.

"Turn the safety off, dummy!" shouted Judy. Nick rolled his eyes and flipped the safety switch. He cocked his weapon and fired. Judy's laser rifle made a buzzing sound as it fired, and red streaks hit her opponents turning them to piles of ash, or exploding them into puddles of slime. The bugs almost seemed like enemies in a video game, given their predictable behavior. By the time the bugs had been driven off by the unexpected resistance, Nick and Judy were holding their knees, panting. The cryogenic sleep was still taking its toll. The two sat down, tired as hell. Judy fiddled some knobs on her Pip-Boy, and switched the screen to "radio".

"Hey Nick, think I can get a signal down here?"

"I'd doubt it, but go ahead and try." Judy selected a station labeled "New Zootopia Radio." To Nick's surprise, music started playing after a few seconds. The connection wasn't the greatest, but it was bearable. The song was near it's end, and afterwards a male's voice came over the radio.

"Hello there, and welcome to New Zootopia Radio-finest station in all the wasteland. Now for some news: The Brotherhood of Steel has continues to combat the Synth threat, and report to have only lost two members. On the other side of Zootopia, the fighters for the NZR and the outside group known as "Finnick's Legion" clashed in a large gunfight outside of the city center last week, and both sides have reported to have taken huge casualties. The two rival gangs have been fighting for years, and it looks like they ain't about to stop. I'm Mr. Zootopia, and now I'd like to play one of my favorite songs for you-Atom Bomb Baby, by the Five Stars. That's comin' up next." A song started to pour out of the Pip-Boy, and sang "Bum, yaadum bum, yaadum…" Judy curled her lip in distaste-the world seemed to have taken an interest in old music. She looked up and saw Nick's foot tapping to the music. _Figures_ , she thought. _Of course this is the stuff he listens to._ She sighed, and decided to stand up.

"All right, Wilde. Let's get moving already!" Nick stood up, good as new.

"Great stuff, huh?"

"What?"

"The music. Best genre, if ya ask me." He smirked. "Then again, I suppose it doesn't appeal to you…"

Judy rolled her eyes. She somehow knew that Nick was never going to let this go. "Come on already, you dumb fox. We need to get out of here." The song continued "Atom bomb baby, little atom bomb, I want her in my wigwam. She's just the way I want her to be, a million times hotter than TNT…"

At the Vault's door, Judy plugged the Pip-Boy into the console. The computer beeped happily, and the gear-shaped door slowly creaked open. The two mammals stepped through the door and onto the Elevator, which slowly lifted them upwards. The "ceiling" opened to the harsh, bright light of day. Judy shielded her eyes, but took a deep, refreshing breath of fresh air. Once their eyes adapted to the light, Nick surveyed the landscape. The world was much more desolate than he remembered. The vault they were in was built a bit outside of the city, and as such there weren't many buildings around. A few skyscrapers stood in the distance, but they were surrounded by a forest.

"The trees are new," commented Nick. Judy nodded.

"A lot can happen in two hundred years." A stream ran by down a cliff by the elevator shaft, and a path lead down the rock face. The two walked down the path and over an old, wooden bridge over the river that somehow survived the bombing. As they walked across an empty plain, Judy noticed the sheer lack of vegetation. Trees and the occasional scrub dotted the landscape, and the ground was coated in a short, coarse, grey-green grass but other than that there were no plants. She wasn't a fan of what she was seeing. The once green, beautiful landscape was scarred from nuclear fire. The world's appearance symbolised how harsh and dangerous it had become-if the vault had monsters in it, and she couldn't imagine what else could exist in the wasteland.

"Carrots, let's head in that direction," Nick said, pointing at a small town with smoke rising from the chimneys in the distance. "Maybe we should pay the folks around the wasteland a visit." Judy nodded.

"Let's go." She said. As the duo walked through the coarse grass past some destroyed brick buildings, the song played, "Well I'm the wanderer, yeah the wanderer, I roam around, around, around, around…" and faded into the distance with the reborn heros.


	3. Chapter 3: Well, I'm a wanderer

**Chapter 3: Well, I'm a Wanderer…**

A/N: Alright, 3rd chapter in! This time I'm going to try and slow the pacing, to help add more description. I'm also going to (hopefully) write Judy more in-character. Also, I found something awesome on YouTube: A user by the name of DrDissonance1 created a song which took some themes from Zootopia's soundtrack and made them sound like the Fallout 4 theme. Here's a link: https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbFasBm1COw. It's pretty cool, I'd advise checking it out. Anyways, on to the story!

The wasteland was many things. First of all, it was deadly. Catastrophically so. It was also depressing. The dark color palette of the vegetation crossed with the destroyed towns and cities made the landscape extremely dreary. But what Nick hated most about the wasteland was how goddamn _boring_ it was. The two mammals had been trudging along for almost a day and a half towards the town on the horizon, but the settlement didn't seem to come any closer. In fact, Nick could have sworn the village was getting further from them. Judy's radio was playing non stop, and while the music was catchy the optimistic melodies were starting to become a _bit_ annoying. Suddenly, Judy's ears twitched.

"What is it, Carrots?" said the fox. He scanned the dimming landscape. The sun was setting, painting the sky with purple, orange, and red hues. He couldn't see anything.

"I could have sworn I heard footsteps behind us," replied the anxious rabbit. Her ears perked up. "Must've been the wind. Anyways, let's pick up the pace. C'mon!"

Nick groaned. His small friend seemed to be capable of infinite energy. The hyper bunny started to pick the pace up, true to her word. Nick adjusted his long stride in order to catch up with the rabbit, who was practically hopping.

"Do you really need to go so fast? The sun's setting, we should probably find shelter somewhere and build a fire." Nick kept his paws crossed, hoping she would see his reasoning. Judy thought about it for a second.

"Fine. The trees around here should hold some defense, anyways. I'll look for sticks, you go find a place to stay." The bunny hopped away. Nick rolled his eyes again. They were walking alongside a large, leafless forest. Giving the cold temperatures and the leafless trees, Nick assumed the season was somewhere around fall. The computer he had retrieved the date from in the vault didn't go into specifics like season, it was meant to display the date alone. His fur kept him warm during the day, but with the daylight ever decreasing he was starting to shiver. The irradiated forest seemed creepy in the dark.

Judy hopped through the forest, picking up sticks from the ground as she hopped along. She stopped, nose twitching. She could swear she kept hearing footsteps, voices, and other _intelligent_ sounds. She trusted her instincts, and her instincts kept telling her that something-or _someone_ , was following her. She remembered some of the news she heard on her Pip-Boy's radio. Tales of slavers massacring colonies and taking the survivors hostage as workers, or worse. There definitely wasn't much of a law system in place in the wasteland. A crack behind her caused her to whip around. No one was there. Judy sighed, picked up a stick, and turned around. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind. Judy screamed, felt a syringe pressed against her neck, felt the needle, and saw no more.

"Help!" Nick turned around in his hiding spot. He had begun to worry about his partner, and now he knew she was in trouble. Nick turned the safety off of his shotgun, cocked it, and walked out into the now dark forest. Nick looked around, blinked his eyes, and felt his pupils adjust to the dark. His hearing wasn't as good as Judy's, but Nick's was still exceptional. He heard footsteps to his left. He turned, and followed the noises.

After a few minutes of quietly trailing the noises, Nick came to the edge of a bluff with light coming from the bottom of the pit. The fox quietly sneaked over the the edge and peeked over. Nick gasped- there were five large, armed mammals. And lo and behold, there sat an unconscious Judy surrounded by collared mammals. His lip raised into a silent snarl when he saw that there was a large collar around the bunny's neck as well. _I have to bust all of these poor folks out of here,_ he thought. However, the slavers-at least, that's what Nick assumed they were-were large, armed, and scarred. This was proof that the guards weren't just holding big guns-they knew how to use the weapons as well. A large rhino sat up. Nick saw that in addition to his shotgun, the rhino also held a large club with what looked like a clump of concrete on the end strapped to his back. Nick winced. He didn't want to take a hit from that. The slavers seemed to be talking about something. Nick strained to hear their conversation.

"Why are you so worried? What's so odd about a stupid _vault dweller_ wandering around alone? They're idiots, of course they'd do something stupid like this. _No one. Is. looking. For. her._ "

"I dunno, boss. I could've sworn that I heard something in the woods following me."

"Look, I'm the boss, and I say that we're fine."

Nick grinned evilly. The slavers didn't know about him. He looked down, and saw the crowd of slaves. He fought the urge to take a shot at the rhino leader's head with his shotgun. He wanted very little to see the slaver's head splatter into a burst of blood- _No, no, no! I can't think like a savage!_ Nick thought. He didn't want to be as bad as those monsters. Nick looked back into the bluff. The five armed slavers were still talking, but he couldn't hear them now. His ears perked up in alarm when he saw one of them pointed in his direction.

"All right, we know you're up there! Come on down, big-ears," shouted the rhino. _Big ears?_ Thought the fox. His ears were a tad large, sure. But he didn't think that that would have been an apt way to describe him. Suddenly, a shot rang out with a large BANG! One of the slavers, a large wolf, fell to his knees and knocked Judy's unconscious body over. Her arm hit the ground, and the radio started playing:

 _How lucky can one guy be?_

 _I kissed her, and she kissed me…_

 _As the fella' once said,_

 _Ain't that a kick in the head?_

The music set a relaxed mood, despite the shots being fired Nick felt his foot tapping to the beat of the song.

 _Tell me quick, Ain't that a kick in the head?_

Nick spotted his hidden ally, a long-eared rabbit in a fedora and a long, tan overcoat. His light-grey ears were striped with black near the top of their long stalks. The stranger constantly fired his silver revolver, reloaded, and continued to shoot. Nick fired his already-cocked weapon at the rhino's head, and missed by an inch. The rhino turned in his direction.

"Dammit! There're two of them, boys!" He then took the club off of his back and started up the path. Nick fired again and again. He saw the strange rabbit fire at the stranger, but missed. The stranger sheathed his gun-which was out of ammo by now-and took off a sniper rifle on his back. He aimed it at the rhino. Nick fired again, and missed. The rhino was faster than he looked! Nick fired a third time, but the rhino was at the top of the path now. The slaver charged at the small fox, who dodged out of the way just in time. The rhino skidded to a stop, and charged again. Nick wasn't so lucky this time, and was hit in the left arm full-force by the rhino's huge club. Blood splattered from the wound. Nick grabbed the wound, gasping in pain. He looked up at the Rhino, with his eyebrows furrowed in savage wrath. The slaver was grinning. He raised the concrete-topped club over his head, intent on smashing Wilde. The fox flinched, prepared for the soft thud of the club as it ended his life. It never came. A loud shot rang out, and the rhino slumped over, his large club landing handle-up next to him, harmless.

Nick looked down at his arm, which was coated in fur and dry blood. He tried to move it, but couldn't. His arm felt like it was on fire. Nick couldn't help it-he screamed in pain. After a few spasms, and yelps, Nick decided not to try that anymore. He struggled to stand up, then walked down into the cavern. His mysterious ally was taking the explosive collars off of the slaves, who all had wide eyes. Judy had woken up by then, and was looking for him. Her ears perked up when she saw him.

"Nick!" She shouted happily. "You're alive!"

The fox grimaced smugly. "Well, almost." he said. "My arm is killing me…" The stranger took off the collar on another slave, then walked over to Nick. He picked a stimpack off of the floor on the way over, then jabbed it into the fox's arm, right above the wound. Nick flinched, then sighed in relief as he felt the wound heal. He turned around to thank the stranger, but the strange rabbit had disappeared into nothingness. Judy looked around as well, just as baffled. Nick shrugged it off-the stranger would probably be nearby, and he was certain they'd see him again. Judy walked over to him.

"You dumb fox…" she said, smiling happily. Nick rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, Carrots. I thought I did pretty well," Nick responded sarcastically. Judy's smile widened.

"I guess you did, Wilde."

"Ready to head out? We could probably make it to town today if we hurry."

"Fine. But I have some questions to ask you on the way."

Most of the slavers' prisoners had vanished by now. Judy and Nick left the bluff, tired from the night's events. The sun was rising, and they knew that it was no use trying to make up their missed sleep. _Once we get to the town, I'm going to rent a hotel room and buy whatever passes for a beer in these parts,_ Nick thought. They had gone through the bodies of the slavers, and deduced that the post-nuclear society used bottle camps as currency, and collected somewhere around two hundred of the trinkets. Nick figured that if he needed to, he could try using his charismatic properties to gain some more caps once they got into town.

"So, who was that?" asked Judy. The two had begun walking towards the small wooden town, and Judy hadn't forgotten her questions.

"Come again?"

"Who was that? Who helped us?"

"Oh, duh. I have no idea. He just appeared out of nowhere-and you saw how he just… _disappeared_."

"Interesting character. Anyways, whatever. We might as well forget it."

"I'll say." Nick yawned loudly, earning him an annoyed glare from Judy.

The morning sunrise was beautiful-or rather, as close as beautiful could be in the wasteland. The golden sunrise illuminated the cold, harsh world. The grey grass painted a drab picture of death and despair. _How poetic,_ Nick thought. He was tired from walking, and even more tired from Judy's constant chatter in addition to the cheerful radio. Judy had an optimistic and curious outlook on everything, and half of the time she seemed to be talking more to herself than to the fox. Nick's arm was still a bit sore, though the wound had scarred up long ago.

The drab sun was falling from the sky as the two mammals entered the town. The two were given odd looks from the townspeople. Nick looked around for a clothing vendor, the first thing he needed was to blend in. He spotted a vendor with coats of various colors and sizes on the street, advertising fair prices and a variety of availability. Nick walked over to the vendor.

"Hi there. I'm interested in finding a coat-anything to help me fit in." started the fox. The (literally) shrew salesman smiled.

"No problemo, sir. Would you like a longer or shorter coat?"

"Longer would be nice."

"No problemo, sir. Right this way." He gestured behind a curtain. Nick entered the warehouse. He was surrounded by an even more diverse selection of clothing. The small rodent lead him to a section labeled "FOXES." Nick gathered up a grey shirt, a pair of khaki pants and a long, grey overcoat. He topped it off with a grey fedora, to match the coat. He tried to emulate the common style he saw among the people of the irradiated world, from the strange rabbit that helped him out to several people on the streets. He also looked through the rabbit section, but decided to find Judy and bring her here later. After some bartering, he arranged a price of fifty caps for the entire outfit.

Next, Nick needed to find Judy-and a place to stay until morning. He found Judy easily enough, though it did take some looking. She had also looked for clothing, and was already in her outfit. She had chosen a simple ensemble of a light-blue shirt and navy pants, as well as leather shoulder-pads and knee-pads. Nick had kept his Aviator sunglasses, and decided to keep them as part of his clothing as well.

Judy walked up to him, looking a bit embarrassed. She pointed to a group of scantily-clad jackrabbits down the street, who were waving seductively in the direction of any males who walked by them.

"Nick, are those-"

"Yes, they're whores, Carrots." Judy's face turned even redder. Nick smirked again-the wasteland was starting to prove amusing for him. "C'mon, Judy. Let's find someplace to stay."

The dynamic duo found an inn with open rooms easily enough. The room was a bit small, though it had two beds, a table and a bathroom. Nick changed in the restroom, then hung the hat and coat up on the hooks implanted in the door. The two mammals looked around intently. Judy broke the silence after a few seconds.

"So, now what?" Nick shrugged.

"I dunno, Carrots. Right now, I'm going to find something to eat and drink. Afterwards, I'm going to sleep. Feel free to tag along, or do whatever you want." Judy nodded.

"I think I'll stick with you for now." she replied. Nick shrugged again-he was secretly glad of the Rabbit's company, though he wasn't about to admit it.

"Let's go find some food, then." he said. He took his coat off of the door, and held the door open for Judy. He exited after the rabbit. They walked down the street side by side, observing the strange people around the town. As the two walked down the settlement's street, Judy smiled to herself. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she new that whatever was coming her way promised to be exciting.


End file.
